Electoral Bill introduces EVM paper trail
Thursday, December 14, 2017
![Coming soon: EVMs are due to be used in the 2019 ballot](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://www.mmegi.bw/uploads/imported_images/2017/december/14/phpWIWD6Y.jpg&w=400&q=72&f=jpg&t=1)
Coming soon: EVMs are due to be used in the 2019 ballot
“The Bill introduces (a) VVPAT printer to ensure that votes are supplemented by a permanent paper record of each electronic vote for purposes of auditing electronic ballots,” says the Bill presented by the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Eric Molale. It further states that the introduction of VVPAT necessitated redrafting of the Amendment in order to synchronise the procedures for the EVM with the verification process provided by the VVPAT printer ballot slips.
It will distinguish the EVM voting procedure from voting by ballot paper, while it retains other provisions such as registration of voters, preparation of rolls, deletion of supplementary rolls, assistance of voters by election officers and increase in penalties.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...